Fair dealing and course packs: Canadian and international challenges

by Sara Bannerman

A draft study by Professor Seng presented last week at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is of particular relevance to Canada, where many universities have recently begun to take the stance that the inclusion of articles or book chapters, for example, in hard copy and electronic course packs, is fair dealing that does not require permission or payment of copyright fees.  Is the Canadian universities’ interpretation of fair dealing in line with the policies adopted in other countries?  Professor Seng’s study sheds some light on this question.  Read my full blog post on this topic here. Chapter 4: “Access to education, libraries, and traditional knowledge” of my book International Copyright and Access to Knowledge addresses the history and present politics of copyright in educational works.